Pentagon says it cannot replace imported Russian rocket engines

The Pentagon cannot find a replacement for the Russian rocket engines it buys anytime soon, a senior official has revealed. The import of the engines has for now been banned via a court order lobbied by SpaceX and based on sanctions against Russia.

Washington may soon find it problematic to continue launching its
military satellites, as a long-time supply connection between
Russian and US defense companies has been halted and is being
reviewed – all because of sanctions against Moscow in connection
with the Ukrainian crisis.

Earlier ordered by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the review
of US Air Force dependence on the Russian-made RD-180 engine,
used in American Atlas V rockets, has not yielded any solutions.

“We don’t have a great solution. We haven’t made any
decisions yet,” Frank Kendall, the US undersecretary of
defense for acquisition, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg in a
Thursday article. The defense official spoke to the outlet after
testifying before a Senate committee on the matter on Wednesday.

United Launch Alliance LLC, a partnership of Lockheed Martin
Corp. (LMT) and Boeing Co. (BA), has been purchasing RD-180
rocket engines from joint Russian-American enterprise RD-Amross
LLC since 1997. The engines in question have been produced at a
plant of NPO Energomash near Moscow, and over 40 of them were
delivered between 1997-2007 alone.

The US has used RD-180 engines to power its Atlas III and Atlas V
rockets, which mostly deliver commercial or military
communications satellites, as well as reconnaissance and
navigation satellites.

SpaceX fighting Russia on US space market?

So far, the replacement options outlined by the Air Force for
Hagel have reportedly included building RD-180s in the US under
an existing license from the Russian maker, or using different
Delta-class rockets altogether. Each of the options has its
drawbacks, such as the need to harness the time and know-how for
setting up engine production in the US, or the limited production
capability for another class of rockets, according to Kendall.

However, even as the Pentagon has yet to come up with a definite
decision on the issue, the banning of the Russian engine import
is being pushed through by other US players.

US billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX corporation on Wednesday won a
court order temporarily blocking the Air Force from buying the
Russian rocket engines on the grounds of a “potential
violation” of US-imposed sanctions. The corporation says
that by purchasing the engines, the Air Force is funneling money
to Russia’s military industrial complex, which could be
sponsoring some sanctioned Russian personas.

That was only part of the April 28 complaint filed by SpaceX,
which has been desperately trying to break into the military
launch market. Musk has particularly been aiming to end the
Boeing/Lockheed-Martin monopoly on launching military satellites
in the US.

Speaking at a congressional hearing in March, Musk alleged that
such launches may be at risk due to the dependence on the Russian
engine.

There has not, however, been any indication that Russia could
stop the production of engines already agreed upon under the
latest contract, nor did the US freeze their delivery. The
Wednesday court decision did not cover existing contracts or
payments either.

Despite Washington’s recently ratcheted-up rhetoric on sanctions
against Russia, Bloomberg learned that five more RD-180 engines
are still due to be delivered this year. The further deliveries
could come under question at least temporarily, as, according to
Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann, the United Launch Alliance
has already stockpiled a two-year supply of the engines.